Spanish, second half 16th century

the cross with a cartellino inscribed: INRI in black enamel

The goldsmith who made this beautiful crucifix has succeeded in creating a wonderful play of textures that would have captivated the Renaissance patron. In his attempt to represent a naturalistic cross, he has successfully employed several virtuoso techniques, which include enamelling the cut-off branches green and chasing the surfaces of the cross so as to resemble the grain of wood. A similar 16th-century gold pendant crucifix with naturalistic cross can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. 260-1869), whilst the physiognomy of the corpus and the use of pearls compare with a 16th-century Spanish pendant, which is published by Muller (op. cit. p. 64). The cross with cut-off branches was one of the symbols of the Spanish Inquisition, similar branches appear on a Spanish processional cross dating from 1500 in the British Museum (inv. no. 1911, 0621.2)

RELATED LITERATURE
P. Muller, Jewels in Spain 1500-1800, New York, 2012, p. 64